Kreisler for Cello

Fritz Kreisler was one of the most beloved musicians of the early 20th century. Wildly popular among concert goers, he became a household name, along side Caruso and Melba. He was also highly respected by his peers. Beyond impeccable technique, Kreisler brought an aristocratic and easy elegance to everything he played. The conductor Bruno Walter said,“He did not only play the violin, he became the violin, or better, the violin became Fritz Kreisler … From the first time on when I heard him play, I always had the impression of hearing the inner soul of music itself. Through the beauty of his singing tone, through the charm of his rhythm, through the natural simplicity of his expression, this very soul of music spoke to me. For he not only makes music, he is music. … To make music is for Fritz Kreisler what flying is for the bird or swimming for the fish, and I am sure it is this elementary quality which explains the spell that he casts over his audiences, that changes the passing events of his concerts into a profound lasting experience.”

Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quartet recalls violinist Josef Gingold’s remarks on the occasion of the Kreisler Centennial Concert in 1975 at Indiana University: “Those of us who have heard Kreisler in concert will never forget his sublime artistry. His tone was bewitching; his overall mastery of the fingerboard, his incisive rhythmic pulse, his charm and great musicianship will live forever in our memory. Over a period of 20 years I never missed a Kreisler concert if possible and I always came away from his concerts ecstatic. When he made his stage entrance, his majestic bearing demanded attention even before he played a single note. However, once he put the violin under his chin he was completely transformed. A certainty, modesty, and humility were evidenced as he seemed to say, “I would love to play for you.”  I felt that Kreisler played personally for each listener in his audience, so personable was his magnetism.”

Dr. Richard Rodda recounts some of Kreisler’s early history from a program at Music at Menlo: Kreisler’s father was a Viennese physician but also an enthusiastic amateur violinist who provided early guidance to young Fritz. He was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory at age 7 and won a gold medal at age 10. He transferred to the Paris Conservatory and at age 12 won a gold medal competing against much older students. Notably, he had no further formal instruction on the violin after that time. He then toured the United States, making his debut with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony at age 13. Interestingly, after returning to Vienna, he abandoned music in favor of studying medicine and then served in the Austrian army. Fortunately, at age 21 he took up the violin again although he met disappointment when he failed in an audition to become a member of the Vienna Philharmonic. Pivoting, he found great success again as a soloist on the concert stage again by age 24. He performed widely in the United States as well as in London where the London Philharmonic awarded him the Beethoven Medal in 1904. In 1910 he gave the premier of the Elgar Violin Concerto, which was dedicated to him.

In 1914 Kreisler moved to the United States and among his concert activities, tried to raise funds for the Austrian war relief. Because anti-German sentiment ran so high, Kreisler had to temporarily withdraw from the public eye. Ultimately, he later concertized successfully again in Europe as well as the U.S. He died in New York in 1962 at age 87. 

In addition to being a superb violinist known for his sweet tone, impeccable timing and expressive phrasing, Kreisler was also a gifted composer, whose short pieces for violin endure to this day. His compositions for violin fall loosely into three categories: those which he claimed authorship from the start, those he attributed to old masters but later admitted to composing himself, and arrangements of pieces by other composers.

The pieces I am sharing can be grouped in these categories:

Original compositions

Aucassin et Nicolette
Berceuse Romantique
Liebesleid
Marche Miniature Viennoise
Polichinelle
Romance
Syncopation
Tambourin Chinois
Toy Soldiers March

“In the style of” or fictitiously attributed to other composers

Allegretto in the style of Boccherini
Andantino in the style of Martini
Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane - Louis Couperin
La Precieuse in the style of Louis Couperin
Preghiera - Giovanni Battista Martini
Tempo di Minuetto - Gaetano Pugnani

Arrangements of pieces by other composers

Poldini-Kreisler: Poupée valsante
Chaminade-Kreisler: Sérénade Espagnole

Abram Chasins, pianist and music director of radio station WQXR interviewed Kreisler on his 80th birthday. This video also includes touching remarks and remembrances from distinguished violin colleagues Mischa Elman, Yehudi Menuhin, Joseph Szigeti, Erika Morini, Nathan Milstein, Ruggiero Ricci, and Isaac Stern. During the interview, Chasins delved into the backstory of some of Kreisler’s most loved concert pieces. Here Kreisler recounts how, when we was 60, the story of his compositions “in the style of” came out. Kreisler admitted that as a young emerging artist, he was reticent to put too many of his own compositions on programs for fear of how that would appear to critics. Therefore, he disguised these compositions, attributing them to composers in the distant past. When the truth was revealed, although Kreisler was criticized, he said, considering the works were already so well accepted, “The name changes, the value remains.” 

Dr. Richard Rodda shared that Kreisler once remarked that the generating force behind his music was the love of beauty and the love of the violin itself: “Joy, fear, anger, gladness - all of these can be projected from one heart directly to another through the medium of music. This is possible, I believe, because music is the most direct and untrammeled exponent of human emotion.”

I hope you enjoy my renditions of these wonderful heartfelt pieces by Fritz Kreisler!